I've got a funny story - that happened before the unfunny one. I wanted to make sure everything went right today, so I set off from my house to the research site extra, extra early to factor in any unfortunate random events that could have stopped me getting there on time, such as bad traffic or spontaneously appearing road works. Unfortunately, I ended up getting there extra early and was knackered. So I thought, with all that spare time, I think I'll have a sleep on the back seat of my care. So I got snug and comfy on the back seat and all of a sudden:

"Tickle my belly...hahaha! Let's dance and sing...hahaha! Bye bye then!"

I found it actually quite a disturbing experience to hear something so random at 6 am in the morning and wondered where the hell it was coming from. Anyway, it was one of my niece's toys she had stuffed down the back seat that I was leaning against and activating... She's not playing with that thing near me.

Hi, Eska, Sneaks and Natassia, there's just no file on the SD card - I've tried file recovery software and everything. It was really important data because the group involved was a group of clinicians that only get together every so often. A cruel twist of fate. I'm in flight or fight mode at the moment. I don't want to discuss the implications with my sup because I'll come across as a right stupid idiot. I shouldn't be letting things like this happen at such an advanced stage. I'm looking at being set a month back for the sake of a 45 minute recording. Ppffffff!

It was a really good data collection session today. My audio recorder never saved it though.:-( My research now faces a significant set back.:-(

Sadly I can't wind my supervisors up. Not because they'd murder me, but because I have no angle of attack, which is probably due to the fact that I don't see any of them as much as I'm supposed to. I'd have loved to contribute to this thread, but for once I'm going to have to shut up :-(

I've just finished a bottle of chocolate milkshake off (as I prepare for my data collection tomorrow) and I noticed some writing on the side that, erm, really spoke to me: You gotta do what you gotta do to get your Yazoo! Now, I'm not really giving Yazoo free advertising or anything, but it made me wonder about a new idea for a thread.
I wonder if we can share ideas with one another on techniques we can use, on a daily basis, to get through our PhD. We already have the congratulations thread for when we want to feel fabulous about a minor achievement, and then we have the exercise thread as well. Somewhere on this forum we also have the Film Review Thread, and then there's also the Motivation Thread and also one that relates to what is good about doing a PhD. I've also contracted a serious case of 28 Days Later Syndrome, which means I've started to listen to zombie apocalypse audio books as I work away at home. Honestly, the number of times I hear in the day: 'The zombie shuffled towards the hysterical women, one eye ball hanging out of its socket, emitting a blood curdling groan'. Terrible writing for 14 year olds. Anyway, I digress...and am probably close to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
So, we have the threads, exercise, bits of chocolate and I would also like to add: music, BBC Radio 4, bits of TV, computer games (thanks Eska)...I've probably already exhausted all of the ideas, but it would be lovely if anyone could recommend anything else.

We need to celebrate our success through the medium of song and dance:

My progress today, a little more than yesterday,
The ink in my pen is half wayyyyy.....
I'm writing away, my ink jet printer busy today,
I think things are going my wayyyyy.....

The day is half spent, but I've made a dent,
My workload is dissolving awayyyyy.....
It's only a Tuesday, I'm collecting data on Wednesday,
It'll be analysed and presented by Sundayyyyy....

So lets all be positive, push away the negative,
Keep all our stress at bayyyy......
It's only a PhD, not a nasty STD,
and soon it will be time for teaaaaaaa...

We'll have our doctorates, eating our chocolates,
Dancing and celebrating all dayyyyyy...
So lets all be thankful, avoid the doubtful,
And carry on working awayyyyyyy...

Hmm, it does look good Pixelmittens and I think it could be helpful. The only thing that puts me off it is that you have to give the website either your Google, Facebook or Yahoo login details. I also not that the webpage does not have any verifiable security information. Maybe I'm just being paranoid though.

I recently had an article rejected, Keep_Calm - and it did knock the wind out of me and my progress. I'm still trying to regather bits of my motivation to carry on in fact. Some journal article editors are just nobs in my opinion, often with a political agenda behind what they publish. And it really annoys me sometimes because you're essentially giving them something for free that represents all your hard work, blood, sweat and tears.
I come from an ex-poly like you as well - two in fact. And, yep, it can be harder for those of us who come from ex-polys - don't care what anyone says. As I think bewildered said below, with such an impossibly large amount of work, you need to see you sup and try and sort something - a manageable work load. You're not a drone and you do need a semblance of a normal life, even doing a PhD. You run the risk of burning out and getting utterly fed up with things - no matter how tough you are.
You're obviously more than capable of getting a PhD, but it's a marathon and you have to pace yourself, sometimes by walking and rarely by sprinting. It's not you not being good enough. It's you being more than capable but having too much to do. You need recreational time and you also need time to sleep properly - even prisoner's on death row get that.
As for not getting an academic job at the end of it - there's another year and a half for you yet. However, true this may be, try not to make an obstacle of it before you have to and look for alternative solutions a little closer to the time.
You'll get your PhD, of that there's no doubt. See if you can negotiate your work load and get yourself some relaxation time.

My day so far....[insert sound from nose diving aeroplane] + [insert picture of dog doings] = a pretty rubbish day. I can't write for toffee at the moment. Where have all my words gone? I used to be able to write like I'd swallowed a dictionary. Now I need to look on the back of cereal packets for word inspiration, but I find there isn't much call for the words 'whole grain', 'fortified' and 'added B vitamins' in my line of work.

Ahh, well, hopefully things will look up later in the week. I have an 'expert review' pre-testing data collection session - so it'll make me feel as though I've moved forward that bit more.

Not much at all, Ogriv, if you have lots of audio data like me. It should be fine if you just have word documents and .pdf articles though. I'm not a reseller or anything and this isn't an add, but I use I-Drive E. You get 2 GB for free and, for £3-50 a month up to 160 GB.

There's little point me stating the obvious, Someone3. It's a very tough job market for post-docs at the moment. An oversupply of PhDs and not enough jobs. Given the fact that you're a strong candidate, I can only say you're having terrible luck at the moment. It's horrible when you've worked so hard to get so far. All I can say is that you have to keep trying, trying and trying. Have you thought about applying for post-docs in some other countries, like America and Europe. There was something in the papers quite recently about how academics are having to move a long way from home and their families just to find work.

I'm actually quite angered reading this. Not at you, of course! You've basically described me and where I am right now. I've got some quite relevant stuff I'd like to say here, but it's going to take me a while to type. I'll post it later on. Just hang on in there, Keep_Calm.

Hi Julie10. Have a look here: http://books.google.com/books?id=iwwo5gx8aX8C&pg=PA672&dq=pharmacology+ki+value&cd=10#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Hello Sue2604, sorry to hear that your night out had a bit of a sad ending. I love the comparison you make between doing a PhD and being in prison. Of course other people have really demanding jobs and work long hours - but it's nothing like doing a PhD. And unless they've done or are doing a PhD, I don't think they're qualified to comment. Alpacalover has made some really insightful comments. It'll soon be over for you though and you'll be Dr Sue2604.

I'm not being funny or anything but...Sali, shouldn't you know more about this than anyone else? As it is your research project, in fact, shouldn't you know which area of research you want to research? How 'the topic is to be viewed'? This is your transfer report, which means, presumably, that you are moving from MSc to Mphil, or something like that. So you must already have a body of work that you can use and where you hope to take it.
You should check your university guidelines, as they usually provide a format of how to produce the transfer report. Generally, with the transfer report you:

1) Introduce your topic

2) Provide some of your lit review

3) Introduce your research question(s)

4) How you plan to tackle your research question(s) - so discuss the theory behind your approach

5) Provide a plan of action for your intended research

6) Provide an account of what you have achieved so for.

7) Document the training you have undertaken.

8) Document the training you need and plan to undertake.

And that's about what I did. It could be different for you though - and other people may have different ideas. I think that it is reasonable for you to ask for advice on how to produce your transfer report. But I think you're being very unreasonable if you think that people should have the time, inclination and expertise to actually suggest your research area for you. It's, after all, your PhD. Good luck,